Done Since 2020-09-13

[mdlbear]

Bad week. None of my usual alexithymic waffling -- this was just a flat-out b a a a a d week. Bob Laurent and Chris Holosi both died on Monday, and Ruth Bader Ginsberg died on Friday. The lousy air quality would have made it worse except that I didn't have much cause to go outside. Colleen's diarrhea didn't help, though that appears to be getting better.

I got Sable back in operation. I'm currently using the Linux Mint partition with the MATE desktop; there seem to be some odd things going on with focus, mate-panel is flaky, and I haven't been able to get bluetooth working for more than a few seconds, but other than that it's okay. There is none of the keyboard flakiness that I saw with Raven -- apparently Raven doesn't get along well with a keyboard sitting on its closed lid. I've managed to get most of my configuration files re-jiggered to work in a multi-boot environment, so there's that.

I'm having a great deal of trouble getting anything done. It was bad enough before this week. I don't expect things to get any better. Today's Depression Comix sums things up better than I could -- "Why the FUCK isn't EVERYONE depressed?"

Notes & links:

0913Su
  & Awake 1:30ish;  back to bed 3am
  * up 6:30; S=6:31, W=191.8; shower
  : AQI=185 - Unhealthy
  @ Is Plastic Recycling A Lie? Oil Companies Touted Recycling To Sell More Plastic 
    " ... the economics: Making new plastic out of oil is cheaper and easier than making
      it out of plastic trash. "
  * UbuntuStudio!Sable set up with users, ssh, _very_ minimal installs - basically just
    ~steve, ssh daemon, make, git, zile, then copy ssh keys from another partition so that
    all three (eventually maybe four) systems all look (to ssh) exactly like old!sable
  % 11:23 meloxicam, heat
  / minor cleanup

0914Mo
  % awake 1am.  itching.
  / 1am major+ cleanup very liquid
  % right on the edge of some kind of breakdown.  Periodic swearing.  Anger I guess?
    (not angry with C; mostly myself and the crap)  Jaw clenching.  Glad I put in guard.
    trouble with fine motor control; sleep fatigue, tension; mostly tension or something
    -> took four tries to type my password.  -> oh yes; did I mention itching.
    2am just want to curl up into a ball
  * up 8ish(?); S=6:26;
  * call (handyman)Wayne -> work scheduled for Tursday
  : Bob Laurent died this morning (brain tumor)  Expected, but sad
  * (V) change/wash top sheet; maybe blanket -- check.
  * ~1pm (HH nurse)Diane intake (again)
  @ NSW fires: Air pollution affecting residents' health with increase in PM2.5
    (via this comment)
  : 5:30pm AQI not 211 - very unhealthy.  Think I'll stay indoors.
  : Chris Holosi died
  : Apparently I can reliably boot Blackbird by using the "novo button" which normally
    boots into the one-click-restore partition.  I'll take it.  It's very slow, though.
  : continuing to have external-keyboard wierdness on Raven even with the new keyboard.
    Mouse-button weirdness, too; clears up after waking from sleep.
  @ Life on Venus: Phosphine in clouds is a sign of possible life, researchers say - The
    Washington Post (see also xkcd: Evidence of Alien Life)
  % 11pm headache -> meloxicam

0915Tu
  % dream bits:  there was a little brown notebook that I was writing in -- a diary,
    maybe.  Everything in my (dorm?) room got packed up to go (someplace) in spite of
    having told ?them that I wasn't going.  Retrieved most of my stuff -- only 2-3
    smallish boxes -- from the truck but not the notebook.
  * up 5:55; S=6:46;
    % did my back exercises; first time in ~3 days.
  * work on Honu, adding hack for adding "include .gtkrc-2.0.mine" to .gtkrc-2.0
  * */15   pay AX card, Molly
  * */1,15 CPAP:  change paper filter, wash tub                  */{1,15}
  / 7:40 C has had a full pitcher (2qt) of water -- I brought her another
  % 11pm meloxicam for back pain
  / major cleanup
  
0916We
  & awake 3:40ish; S=4:23;
  / 3:40 major cleanup; 4am cleanup, 5am cleanup
  @ 4 Best Browsers for 100% Privacy & 4 to Avoid - Privacy Australia
  * up 9:14; S=7:17;
  / 11ish major cleanup (V)
  * ping dr. about buspirone
  / 1ish HH PT (Colleen)
  $ HSX comp CC+S to (PT)Colleen
  * singing: Bigger on the Inside
  & Arranged for V to come on Fridays.  Extra $600/month  We'll see how long I can manage
  * 9:40 back on Sable.  Lots of bug-squashing required:
    link Mathilda/bin to Honu/local/mathilda-bin (install)
    take references to adobe-courier... out of Xdefaults.  Still needed?  mostly not
    config:  redefine menu key from super(!) to super-shift-m
    Things are still a bit weird, but mostly working
    need  * discord, zoom, printer and other downloaded packages.
    need a good value for goodterm -> mate-terminal; Local.hs needs to be per distro
    BT mouse is broken.  Worked for a few seconds, then vanished.  Says it's connected.

0917Th  * litter boxen:  BR changed, LR scooped (hardly used)
  * up 7ish; S=7:13;
  / C minor cleanup
  $ 400 by WU to James for R's travel home
  : 9am smoke extremely visible.
  * 11ish HH Nurse (Maria)
  * between 10 and 11 - (handyman)Wayne -> $430 UB
  % feeling ?tired.  Slight headache, somewhat restless
  * posting works.  Had to change python -> python2 (tried python3 and it failed)
  : No problems with the keyboard, so almost certainly a problem with using it on top of
    Raven.  (goes to try the other one -- it will be slightly embarrassing if it turned
    out that I bought a $60 keyboard for nothing.  OTGH it will be good to have a spare.)
    -> no problems with either keyboard so far.  The wireless one has shipped.
  / 1l in bag (bedtime); 3l H20; ginger ale; ensure (should go in separate file)
  % 11ish meloxicam; more as a prophylactic at this point.

0918Fr
  * up 5:30; S=6:20; 
  / 1.2l in bag; very minor cleanup
  % applying heat to back
  % I miss Raven's screen size (but not the keyboard!)  Sable doesn't seem to turn off the
    laptop screen when you close the lid.  Probably the fault of the MATE power manager
    According to the system reports app, bt-adapter keeps crashing.  Figures.
  @ New Climate Maps Show a Transformed United States (siderea)
  $ V extra $450 for 3 Fridays/month
  : The BT applet for Mate is called "blueberry".  Still doesn't work.  Wondering whether
    it's the mouse.  -> doesn't work with the Acer keyboard either.
  * mid-day C HH PT Colleen (~ call V if rescheduled)
    <- give her a card so she can find s.s.net, etc.
    <- she's heard about half of CC+S, likes it.  Liked Demon Lover in particular.
  @ Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dies at 87 we're screwed
    Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Supreme Court’s Feminist Icon, Is Dead at 87 - NYT
  @ Does Wearing Glasses Protect You From Coronavirus? - The New York Times 
  / ~1l in bag

0919Sa Software Freedom Day
  * up 6:06: W=190.2, S=7:24;
  : air quality somewhere between good and moderate, depending on source
  * Loaded Modus Vivendi (dark, accessible) theme for Emacs.  Win.
  @ Celebrate Software Freedom Day
    -> but the event map is for 2019, and no evidence of any action this year.
  / 2l in bag
  : mate-panel is rather broken.  Apt returns error messages from aptitude.  Front-end?
  * med pickup for S
  * battery in Molly's key fob needs replacing.  See p.39 of owner's manual.
    -> some bad moments when it came apart the wrong way.  -> tested.  working.  Whew!
  $ 275 UB to Get Mitch or Die Trying (teaotter posting in thisfinecrew)
  % having severe difficulty concentrating
  @ 463 | depression comix
  ? Wayne will come back to clean up and remove forms.
  * started populating sable:vv/web.  dh is having DNS issues, so copied the .git
    directories from Raven and `git reset --hard HEAD` to restore.  Should fill in the
    gaps from nova:/vv/backups.  Also need github and gitlab remotes for some. ,m
  / ~3l in, 900ml in bag

Comments

[mama_kestrel]

I'm reminded of something a friend said in a period when both he and his wife were battling serious illness. "I'd have to be crazy to not be depressed!"

[mdlbear]

I've also seen something to the effect of "insanity is a perfectly normal response to an insane situation."

[spiffyvoxel]

Here in the UK, we've had an Indian summer of sorts this past week. Of course, that messes with my sleep pattern. Had a bout of stomach upset mid-week after trying to drink coffee instead of tea. :P Had an awful night's sleep Thurs/Friday, so wasn't up to much that day. Then yesterday I went to get my winter flu jab, and dealt with the effects of that kicking in. :P On the plus side, though, lots of raspberries picked from our plants at bottom of garden. :)

[ellenmillion]

*sends hugs and hopes for a better week ahead*

[mdlbear]

Thanks.

[cellio]

Wait, Bob Laurent? I did not know this. :-(

So sorry for the losses, personal and global.

[jesse_the_k]

Surviving is the goal, thriving is totally extra.

Re: So sorry for the losses, personal and global.

[mdlbear]

Thanks!